20. ABRAHAM'S VISION

GENESIS 15

The connecting link between our present portion of Scripture and the one which we took for the basis of meditation in our last chapter is found in the opening words of Genesis 15-"After these things the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision." Chedorlaomer, the King of Elam, had united his forces to those of three other kings in a league of conquest. Their military prowess seemed irresistible. The Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, the Horites, the Amalekites and the Amorites were each defeated in turn (Gen. 14:5-7). Five kings with their forces now combined and went forth to engage the armies of Chedorlaomer, but they also were overthrown, and in consequence the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were sacked and Lot was taken prisoner. Then it was that Abram went forth at the head of his three hundred and eighteen armed servants and by a surprise night attack gained a signal victory. Chedorlaomer was slain, Lot was delivered, and the booty taken from Sodom and Gomorrah was recovered.

And now came the reaction, mental and physical. Abram had good reason to conclude that the remaining followers of the powerful King of Elam would not abandon the enterprise which had only been frustrated by a surprise attack at night-made by an insignificant force-but instead, would return and avenge their reverse. In defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, Abram had made some bitter and influential foes. It was not likely that they would rest content until the memory of their reverse had been wiped out with blood. They who had been strong enough to capture the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were too powerful to be set at defiance by Abram and his little colony. Thus alarmed and apprehensive Abram now receives a special word of reassurance: "After these things the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield." Thus in tender grace did Jehovah quiet the troubled heart of the one whom He was pleased to call His "friend."

But further. In the remaining part of this opening verse "I am....thy exceeding great Reward"—we have

another word which looks back to the previous chapter; and a precious word it is. After Abram had defeated Chedorlaomer, and after he had been blessed and refreshed by Melchizedek, the King of Sodom offered to reward Abram by suggesting he take the recovered "goods" unto himself (14:21). But he who "looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God" declined to accept anything from this worldling, saying, "I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich" (14:22, 23). Noble reply! And now we behold the sequel. God never permits His own to lose for honoring Him and seeking His glory. Abram had refused the spoil of Sodom, but God more than makes it up to him. Just as when our patriarch had shown his magnanimity to Lot by saying: "Is not the whole land before thee....if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand then I will go to the left," and the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever" (13:9, 14, 15); so it was here. The refusal to be enriched by the king of Sodom is now compensated, more than compensated by a revelation from God which would greatly increase the joy of His servant. How important is the principle which here receives such lovely exemplification! How much are the Lord's people losing today because of their acceptance of the world's favors! Unto how few can the Lord now reveal Himself as He did here to Abram!

"I am thy shield and thy exceeding great Reward." We would fain tarry and extract some of the sweetness of these words. This is a special promise applicable to those who are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." It is God's word to those who "choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" for they have "respect unto the recompense of the reward" (Heb. 11:25, 26). Unto such, God promises to be their Shield, their Defense, the One be

hind whom faith shelters and trusts; as well as their Reward, their exceeding great Reward. So it was with our blessed Lord Himself. Refusing to accept from Satan the kingdoms of the world and their glory, He could say, "The Lord is the portion of Mine inheritance, and of My cup" (Ps. 16:5).

"And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir" (vs. 2, 3). In hearing the words, "I am thy Shield and thy exceeding great Reward," Abram's mind seems to have turned toward his inheritance and the fact that he had no seed of his own to enter into the promises of God. What Abram longed for was a son, for he rightly judged that to go childless was to lose the inheritance. In other words, the patriarch here recognizes that heirship is based upon sonship, and thus we have foreshadowed a truth of vital importance, a truth which is fully revealed in the Scriptures of the New Testament. There we read, "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16, 17). And again: "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself....in whom also we have obtained an inheritance" (Eph. 1:5, 11).

We do not consider that in asking "What wilt thou give me," etc., that Abram was giving expression to unbelief. On the contrary we regard his words as the language of faith. Observe there was no rebuke given him by the Lord; instead, we are told, "And, behold, the Word of the Lord came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be" (vs. 4, 5). It is to be noted that in Genesis 13:15 God compared Abram's seed to the dust of the earth, but here, where Christ is contemplated (as well as a numerous offspring), the word is, "Look now toward heaven," and his seed is likened to the "stars."

And now we come to those words which have been so precious unto multitudes: "And he believed in the Lord;

and He counted it to him for righteousness" (v. 6). A full exposition of this verse would lead us far beyond the limits of our present space, so we content ourselves with a few brief comments, referring the reader to Romans 4 for God's own exposition.

Literally rendered our verse reads, "And he stayed himself upon the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." At the time God promised Abram that his heir should be one who came forth from his own bowels Abram's body was "as good as dead" (Heb. 11:12), nevertheless, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform" (Rom. 4: 20, 21). Abram reasoned not about the natural impossibility that lay in the way of the realization of the promise, but believed that God would act just as He had said. God had spoken and that was enough. His own body might be dead and Sarah long past the age of child-bearing, nevertheless he was fully assured that God had power even to quicken the dead. And this faith was reckoned or counted unto him for righteousness; not that faith is accepted by God in lieu of righteousness as an equivalent for righteousness, else would faith be a meritorious thing, but that faith is the recipient of that righteousness by which we are justified. The force of the preposition is "unto" rather than "instead of❞—it was "counted to him unto righteousness. Abram's case was a representative one. Today justification (to be declared righteous) is by faith, but with this important difference that whereas Abram believed God would give him a son through the quickening of his body, we believe that God has given us His Son, and through His death and quickening from the dead a Saviour is ours through faith.

Just here we would pause to consider what seems to have proven a real difficulty to expositors and commentators. Was not Abram a "believer" years before the point of time contemplated in Genesis 15: 6? Not a few have suggested that prior to this incident Abram was in a condition similar to that of Cornelius before Peter preached to him. But are we not expressly told that it was "By faith" (Heb. 11:8) he had left Ur of the Chaldees and went out "not knowing whither he went"! Yet, why are we here told that "he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for right

And

eousness"? Surely the answer is not far to seek. It is true that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit informs us that Abram was a believer when he left Chaldea, but his faith is not there (i. e., Heb. 11:8) mentioned in connection with his justification. Instead, in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians the incident which the Holy Spirit singles out as the occasion when Abram's faith was counted for righteousness is the one in Genesis 15 now before us. why? Because in Genesis 15 Abram's faith is directly connected with God's promise respecting his "seed," which 'seed" was Christ (see Gal. 3:16)! The faith which was "counted for righteousness" was the faith which believed what God had said concerning the promised Seed. It was this instance of Abram's faith which the Holy Spirit was pleased to select as the model for believing unto justification. There is no justification apart from Christ"Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him all that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:38, 39). Therefore we say it was not that Abram here "believed God" for the first time, but that here God was pleased to openly attest his righteousness for the first time, and that for the reason stated above. Though Christians may believe God with respect to the common concerns of this life, such faith, while it evidences they have been justified is not the faith by which they were justified the faith which justifies has to do directly with the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the character of Abram's faith in Genesis 15; he believed the promise of God which pointed to Christ. Hence it is in Genesis 15 and not in Genesis 12 we read, "And He counted it to him for righteousness." How perfect are the ways of God!

"And He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it" (v. 7). Abram now ventures to ask for a sign by which he may know that by his posterity, he shall inherit the land. "And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (v. 8). We do not regard this question from Abram as arising from unbelief, but that having just been granted (v. 5) a sign or view of a numerous offspring he now desires a further sign or pledge by way of explanation. And now the Lord answers by putting Christ, in type, before him.